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E. B. THOMAS April 19 1921- v SANITARY NAPKINOR THE LIKE Original FiledMarch 13, 1925 y Reissued Apr. .19, 1927.

UNITED STATES My inventionY` relates to the manufacture .of absorptivedevices for hygienic and sur- Il ette, sanitary napkin or the'like andmethod of making the same. i

Certain ligno-cellulose materials now manufactured upon a commercialscale have been found to possess characteristics making them suitablefor use in formingl surgiparticularly celluloses or so called celluingpaper'makers cellulose pulp and like fibrous materials. Among saidcharacteristics are the high absorptive efficiency of such woodcellulose. `its lightness, its capability of being purified and, ifdesired, delivered in a sterile condition and its relativeinexpensivenessy as compared for example with that of natural cotton.One of the important advantages of such material from a practicalviewpoint, perhaps the most important advantage particularly in itsapplication to sanitary napkins, with which my invention is especiallythough not exclusively concerned, is lts'ability readily to disintegratethus permitting the article easily to be disposed of after use, asthrough the 0 .usual toilet facilities without liability of On the otherhand there havev heretofore been certain objectionable features insanitary napkins or serviettes formed of wood 5 cellulose. Due to theextremely high absorptive properties of that material-api proximatelyfive times that required -by the United States Government standardforhospital dressingsand to its extreme lightness 0 'and tenuous natureit is apt to become per meated too quickly by the liquid to be absorbed,with' objectionable results. A'further obiection has been found in thetendency of the fibres to mat together at the 5 edges of the pad, asduring the cutting or stamping out thereof from a larger sheet or stripof the material, sometimes resulting,

gical purposes, and more-particularly aims l to provide'an improvedligno-cellulose servlcal dressings, absorbent-pads and the like,

lose cotton of the coniferous Woodsfinclud# causing stoppages in theplumbing systems..

PATENT OFFICE.

EBBOLD B. THOMAS, 0F NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THOMAS PRODUCTS,INC., OI' BOSTON', MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION 0F MASSACHUSETTS.

SANITARY NAPKIN on THE LIKE.

Original No. 1,564,498, dated December-8, 1925, Serial No. 15,241,ledlMarch 13, i925. Application for reissue filed February 17,

1927. Serial No. 169,113.

particularly in the less expensive grades of Wood cellulose inrelatively stiff orA wiry formations Whichtend to cause irritation.

In accordance with my invention means is provided whereby saidobjections are.

wholly overcome While at the same time the general softness. flexibilityand, most important, the ability of the pad to disintegrate rapidly andeasily when discarded after use are inno Wise impaired.

In the drawings showing by Way of-example one embodiment of my inventionand illustrating one method o f making the same:

Fig. 1 is a bottom plan or outer side view of a serviette or sanitarynapkin embodyin 4 one form of my invention and constructe in accordancewith one method thereof Fig. 2 is aside elevation of the absorptiveelement of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detail Aupon a greatly enlarged scale of a portion ofFig.r2.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the absorptive elementor pad 1', as best Vseen in Figs. 2 and 3, comprises a multiplicity oflayers 2, 2, etc., each consisting of a film or thin. sheet of the woodcellulose or other cellulosic material above referred to, any desirednumber of suitable layers or tenuous films being employed. DesirablyAvat least thirty of the thinnest and most tenuous 'Wood celluloseA filmspractically manutacturableare superposed.

As above pointed out such a packagelor padv is highly absorptive, light,flexible and readily separableor. capable of being disintegrated afteruse. It will, however, become too quickly penetrated from the inner tothe outer side by the fluid to be absorbed. To overcome this defect Ihave devised means whereby one side or surface, that upon the outsidewhen 'the napkin is applied to the body, is rendered moisture proof, sothat the absorbed liquid is retained by the pad and prevented frompenetrating through its outer surface, and this Without detracting'appreciabl from the flexibility of the napkin,or its a ility to bedisintegrated.

' Said moisturef proof'isurface for the pad is indicated at 3 in Figs. 2and 3. It will be noted that it constitutes but a very small fraction ofthe Atotal thickness of the pad. Said surface 3 is, in accordance withmy invention, so a plied that the pad as whole is not stifene are theygreater majority of the sheets or films 2, 2, etc. in any wise uniiedor inseparably connected. I obtain said results preferably by subjectinga sheet of wood cellulose or other cellulo'sic material similar to thefilm-like sheets 2 but 'of a closer texture, less tenuous and heaviertoa bath of a special moisture proofing` material. In practice saidmaterial may be a rubber or rubber-like compound or :thigh-melting arainor wax, said material being of high exibility when dry, not stiff orharsh, and having amelting point well above body temperatures so Es notto be rendered viscous or sticky 'therey. vention is to addsubstantially no stiffness to the pad-V and not to hinder it fromdisintegrating when desired and yet to pro-v vide a moisture proofsurface many materials such as starch, cement-like material, low-meltingglues and certain gum sizes and he like, have been found whollylunsatisactor method thereof a multiplicity -of film-like strips or websof the wood' cellulosel are superposed or piled in 'any suitable manner,as b feeding from a roll. The moisture p roo ng surface is then ap lied.Since any moisture proofing materialJ must not penetrate the pad to anysubstantial degree it is undesirable to ap ly said material either' in aspray or other orm directly to the superposed webs, the absorptiveproperties of the atter being so marked that any materialsuitable forthe purpose and so` applied will impregnate the webs or netrate them sofar as to make them sti and not readily separable. Accordingly Ipreferably pro-l vide a sheet or web of wood cellulose or othercellulosic material of appreciably eater substance than saidmultiplicity of we s and conduct the same through a bath of the moistureproofing materlal such as above mentioned, drain it of any excessmaterial, and then lay it desirably while still moist, upon thesuperposed webs. Said sheet is sufficiently substantial to retainpractically all of said moisture proofing material, so that but one, orat the most a very small plurality of the underlying films, will bepenetrated by the material, as indicated by thestippling in Fig. Saidwaterproofed sheet will be lightly ,heldin position by the material butpreferably is entirely free of positive securing means such as stitchesor the like.

or-rendered less flexi le nor V Since an important object of my inInfbrmingthe absorbent a'd embodying 'my invention. Jand in accor ancewith the proofed' on one surface, arethen divided upl into packages orpads of the desired size and shape, substantially as illustrated inFigs. 1 and2. j Preferably said webs are fed beneath or between rotarycutting devices which desirably are provided with serrated edges andwhich sever the material with a y sawing rather than 'apressure-cuttinv' or pinching action. In said manner the fibres are notmatted orcompacted at the severed edges but are' actually s eparated'or.frayed, as indicated at 4 in Figs. 1 and 3.

4Suitable means for supporting or attaching the absorbent pad thusformed is then provided, herein comprising a covering or envelope ofgauze 5 wrapped aboutthe pad without fastening thereto and extendinglongitudinally beyond the same at opposite "ends, affording attachingiaps 6, 6. Said covering as Well a's the pad itself, is desirably freeof Vstitching or other securing means so that it may easily be removedafter use of the napkin and. disposed of separately but ermissibly inthe same manner as lthe reladily disintegrated absorbent element itse f.

In certain of the claims I have defined the part made up of the layers 2as forming a pad portion, and have referred to said pad portion with theadditional part 3, as together constitutin the pad. It will be notedthat the padg portion is readily disintegrable so that. the pad almostin its entirety isdisintegrable and the entire pad is ca able of similardisposal after use.. ile for the purpose of illustration I have referredto lilla-like strips or webs of -cellulosic material'forming the mainportionv of the pad, which film-like strips I deem preferable, it willbe understood that Within the scope of my invention a plurality oflayers, sheets, or webs of like cellulosic materialv of a greater `orless thickness may be employed so long 'A -as the desiredcharacteristics of softness, flexibility, ability todisintegrate and theothers above mentioned are retained.

My invention is not llmlte'd to the speclfic 'form or method hereinshown and described,

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tating pad readily disintegrable almost in its entirety, and all capableof-similardis` posal after use, is provided.

superposed, thin Webs of Wood` cellulose, 'constituting a pad portionand an additional thin sheet of similar wood cellulose of a closertexture than that of said films, suit-v ably mosture-proofed and laidupon said pad portion without positive attachment thereto, the edges ofsaid cellulose sheets being frayed and uncompacted in the formatin ofsaid pad portion to avoid all possi` bility of irritation thereby to theuser. f'

3. A sanitary napkin `comprising a plurality of tenuous webs ofligno-cellulose material in superposed relation forming a soft, highlyflexible absorbent pad portion readily disintegrable when discardedafter use, an envelope of gauze surrounding said flexible pad portionand retaining the said plurality of webs in said superposed relation andextending longitudinally beyond the latter at their opposite ends toprovide securing means for the napkin, and a. thin layer of materialsimilar in character to that of said pad portion suitably moistureproofed and constltuting moisture-retaining means at the outer face ofsaid pad portion intermediate the latter and said gauze envelope andheld in position thereby, said moisture-retaining means havingsubstantially the same degree of flexibility and softness as that of thesaid pad portion, whereby the softness and flexibility of the latter arepreserved, and being free of positive attachment'to the pad portionthereby presenting no obstruction to the ready disintegration of thelatter when freed from its gauze envelope for discarding after use, saidmeans being itself capable of disposal in the same manner as the saidpad portion and envelope'.

4. That method of Vmaking an absorbent pad particularly adapted forhygienic and surgical purposes which consists in super-v posing amultiplicity of film-like s heets of wood cellulose of relative largearea, in applying moistureproofing2 material to a sheet of similar butdesirably less tenuous wood cellulose, in laying said moistureproofedsheet when drained but moist upon said multiplicity of sheets wherebythe moisture proofing material is prevented from permeating more thanone or a small plu-V rality of the adjacent sheets, and in dividing saidsheets transversely into pads of the desired size.

5. That method of making an. absorbent pad particularly adapted forhygienic and surgical purposes which consists in super posing amultiplicity of filme-like sheets of wood 'cellulose of relative largearea, Ain applying moisture-proofing material to a sheet of similar butdesirably less tenuous wood cellulose. in laying Ysaid moisture proofedsheet when drained butV moist upon said multiplicity of sheets wherebythe moisture proofing material is prevented from 2. In a sanitarynapkin, a multiplicity o'f perlneating more than one or a small .plufrality of the adjacent sheets and in dividing said sheets transverselyinto pads of the desired size by a saw-cutting action Whereby the edgesof said pads lare prevented from matting:

6.v A sanitary napkin comprising in combination an absorbent adportionformed of a plurality of soft, highly flexible, superposedligno-cellulose webs, whereby said pad portion is disposable after useby depositing it in and flushing a usual water-containing toilet vaultand is readily disintegrable in the water thereof or flowing therefrom,an

envelope of gauze surrounding said flexible pad portion and retainingsaid plurality of webs in said superposed relation and extendingIlongitudinally beyond the latter at their opposite ends Yto providesecuring means for the napkin, and a soft, highly flexible, thin,moisture-proof sheet constituting moisture-retaining means at the outerface of said pad portion intermediatethe latter and said gauze envelope,said moisture-retaining means having substantially the same degree offlexibility and softness as that otsaid padl portion, whereby thesoftnessV and flexibility of the latter are reserved, saidmoisture-proof sheet exten ing over atleast the major central region ofthe adjacent face of the pad portion but leaving the longitudinal sideedges of the latter substantially fwholly exposed to the action of thewater when deposited'therein with -said sheet. presenting no obstructionto the ready disintegration of said pad portion when freed from itsgauze envelope for discarding after use, and being itself capable ofdisposal through the same toilet facilities above mentioned.

7. A sanitary napkin comprising a soft, flexible, absorbent 'pad portionformed of a plurality of ligne-cellulose layers whereby it-is disposableafter use by depositing it inand flushing a usual water-containingtoilet vault and is readily disintegrable in the Water thereof orflowing therefrom, an envelope `of gauze surrounding'said pad portionand' extending longitudinallybeyond the same at its opposite rends toprovide securing means Vfor`the napkin, and a soft, highly flexible,thin, moisture-proof sheet at one outer face of said pad portion andWithin` said `gauze envelope, said moisture-v l proof sheet havingsubstantially the same degree of flexibility and softness as vrthat ofsaid pad-` portion, whereby the flexibilityy and softness of the latterare preserved, vand Y presenting no obstruction to the readydisintegration ofthe pad portion, said moisture-proof sheet being itselfcapable of disposal through the same toilet facilities above mentioned,the edges of said layers forming the pad port-ionl being frayed anduncompacted to reduce possibility. of irritation thereby to the user.

8. In' a' sanitary napkin, a plurality of superposed sheets of Woodcellulose constituting a pad portion, and a soft, highly iexible,moisture-proof sheet provi ing moisture-retaining means at one face ofsaid pad portion, the edges of said cellulose 10 sheets being frayed anduncompaoted in the formation of said-pad portion toV reduce possibilityof irritationv thereby to the user. Y In testimony whereof, I havesigned my naine to this specification.

' ERRoLD B. THOMAS.

